Literally taking names. On Monday, she released this notice:
Expanding the opportunity for younger Americans to get insurance coverage is a top priority for the Administration. The Affordable Care Act offers the option for most children under the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ policy. This is a group of people who have traditionally either been unable to afford coverage or have not had access to it.
Following our initial conversations and outreach to insurers, we are encouraged by the actions of WellPoint, United Healthcare, and other companies to bridge the gap between now and the fall when the law becomes effective.
We are also working hard with other insurers on similar proposals and sent a letter today offering to work with each of them to expand this opportunity even further. The letter follows productive discussions with insurers since the bill passed about closing the gap in coverage for college graduates or young adults whose birthday in 2010 made them ineligible to continue on their parents’ plans.
And lo and behold, the very next day brought us this:
I welcome the Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, Kaiser Permanente, and Humana to the growing list of insurers who are offering to continue health insurance for young adults graduating from college or aging out of their parents’ plan. This initiative, complementing the permanent policy in the Affordable Care Act, will enable young people to retain insurance coverage at an important moment as they begin their adult lives and launch their careers.
Many young adults under the age of 26 have traditionally had a difficult time getting access to – and affording – health coverage. The Affordable Care Act, and the voluntary actions of insurers to eliminate the coverage gap for young adults on their parents plans, will give greater health security to millions of American families.
Insuring younger Americans is a top priority for the Administration and we will continue working to expand the opportunity for children and young adults to have access to quality, affordable, care.
That's right - the portion of the law extending coverage to 26-year old children doesn't go into effect until September, but Sebelius has persuaded most of the major players to pro-actively comply. She's a fighter and apparently, she gets results. We have until late june for the 90-day rule period to conclude; I personally can't wait for those to come down.
In the meantime, you can keep tabs on HHS at this link. Just run a search with "Open for Comment/Submission" checked and document type "proposed rules." It will give you a complete listing of all proposed rules up for comment. You can specify the agency as HHS to only view theirs.
And in the mean-meantime, Sebelius and DeParle will be hosting a webchat Q & A in about 10 minutes. Feel free to use this diary as a liveblog thread.